It is said that hiring managers spend about 30 seconds looking at your resume. As recruiters we spend more time looking at resumes than the average hiring manager, and in so doing, we know what it takes to get you to that next level; the interview. Your resume is the vehicle to take you from applicant, to interview, to “You’re hired!” Here are some key tips to keep in mind as you create and up-date your resume.

Finance professionals have access to an almost unlimited wealth of data sources. From customer service data, to web site utilization metrics - many teams have a deep pool of numeric information. Yet, over 75% of business finance teams only review and leverage traditional financial data on a regular basis. As the relevance and thirst for business data continues to grow, CFO’s and their teams need to recognize the business potential of embracing wider sets of data.

We have been hearing a lot about data lakes and their promise for helping to tap the power of big data. For those of you who are unfamiliar; a data lake is a large storage repository and processing engine. Data lakes provide massive storage for any kind of data, enormous processing power, and the ability to handle virtually limitless concurrent tasks or jobs.

As someone who works with a large number of companies and their accounting teams, I often have insight into what employers really need in an applicant. In the world of finance, there is no replacement for experience, certificates, and degrees. And, while these elements are what will get you the interview, they only tell part of the story. How you will succeed once in the position, is usually based on skills beyond the books. In the last year I have had a number of employers share the need for accounting and finance employees who possess these surprisingly simple attributes: